Sea
by Nispedana
Summary: Fem! Ryoma. This time, Echizen Reina moves back to Japan and goes to Rokakku to meet her childhood friends! [W: "Apparent" Mary-sue :) ]
1. Prelude

Please don't get confused _this_ Reina with my other one from my other fem! Ryoma fics. They are generally quite different. Reviews, comments, critiques, rants, and/or flames are very much appreciated!

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own the Prince of Tennis Characters.

* * *

…

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: Prelude**

CALIFORNIA, USA

Inside a humble suburban home within America's most populous city, lived a 'normal' family of four. It was a quiet neighborhood, though, especially at that time of night... and even _they_ knew the limit to the noise they were making. Especially since they were certainly maximizing that limit. The heads of the family were, you see, having their usual Lover's Quarrel about something quite important.

"Rokkaku."

"Seigaku!"

"ROKAKKU."

"SE-I-GA-KU."

"What noisy parents I have." Ryoga muttered scratching his head. If his sister wasn't such a heavy sleeper she'd be saying the same thing. "What's all this commotion about, anyway? It's like… 1:00 am in the morning."

"We were deciding where to move in Japan, now that Reina's finally retiring from the Pro Tennis circuit."

"Eh... so, where?"

Nanjiroh scoffed. "That's what we were arguing about, duh." and Ryoga shook his head. He really wanted to get back to bed.

He casually took a seat and looked at his parents as if he was a psychologist and they were his patients. "Since I'm currently the calmest one in the room, why don't you two state your arguments."

"Very well." Rinko started and cleared her throat. "Well, first of all Chiba has a way better atmosphere than such a condensed city like Tokyo."

Nanjiroh immediately butted in. "No, Tokyo has the best facilities. Tokyo is the only place fit for _my_ Reina's standards." A vein appeared on Rinko's head at that blasted emphasis.

"She's not _your_ daughter alone, Nanjiroh. And she lived in the way _you_ wanted for the sixteen years of her life!"

This shut Nanjiroh up. For about a minute.

"How can you be so sure she'd want to live in Chiba?" Nanjroh asked confidently, apparently forgetting important events in his daughter's life.

"She has friends there, my family's there, and she has friends there." She repeated. The Echizens were, after all, based all the way in Kagoshima which was literally on the other side of the country. Besides, the family lived in a very rural place that wouldn't nurture their Reina properly. Nanjiroh, though, just scoffed.

"Yeah, she spent her vacation there 7 years ago."

"At least she had a starting point! Not from scratch." She exclaimed. "_Besides,_ my grandfather is getting very old. Why not let him spend the rest of his life with us?"

"Oh _please_. That old man would live longer than me." He shrugged, making her glare at him in irritation.

"NANJIROH!"

He flinched- but his position as the leader of the family should not be questioned. "I want Tokyo, and that's it." he said firmly, getting Rinko to cross her arms.

"Really?" she asked aggressively, "You won't change your mind?"

"N-No."

"I will be bedding with Reina for a whole month, then."

His eyes widened in despair. "WHAT? Why- NOO!"

Rinko's eye twitched at the over-reaction. She knew he'd falter when a perverted topic was roused, but not like this. In any case, she was determined to keep her cool and maintain the conversation's 'decency', despite the fact that she was the one who started that shift of topic in the first place.

"Why are you so bent up to get her in Seigaku anyway? Rokakku, my precious Alma Matter, also has a great tennis team. Not to mention grandpa's still coaching it."

"Ryuzaki-sensei's good, but my Oji obviously has more experience."

"Because he's older?" Nanjroh oh-so-maturely commented. Ryoga was already fully awake watching his parents brawl in amusement. He knew they would never split- so technically, fights like this was like watching a wrestling match.

"Well, duh."

"But-" Nanjiroh immediately straightened up. "Seigaku always beat Rokakku."

"Because Reina isn't there yet."

"That goes to show how much bet-" he halted when he noticed his wife was reaching her limit. It was too late, though- she already _had_.

"Reina's life just isn't circling around tennis anymore!" She exclaimed, poking his chest assertively. But seeing Nanjiroh's befuddled state, she calmed down and let out a deep breath. She looked away.

"Reina's bed is big enough. So it's settled th-"

"_Okay_, fine." he fell back at his chair in defeat. "Rokakku it is."

Rinko beamed and gave her husband a simple peck. "Thanks!"

She immediately went to her room to plan their move. She mentally squealed in excitement.

"Now, it's finally time to make my Reina live like a normal girl~!"

…

SAEKI RESIDENCE, CHIBA, The next day

Saeki Kojiro clicked on the 'play' button on his DVD remote. He was re-watching Echizen Ryoma's final battle at the last game of the Grand Slam- the one that hailed him the best player. Indeed, an unbelievable feat for a 16-year old boy.

No, who was he kidding? He knew that Echizen Ryoma was not a boy. She had been his playmate as a child, and he knew how much she loved tennis to the point of spending her whole life improving herself.

This passion for tennis also showed in her personality. She was a very unique individual, and it ensured Kojiro that even if he didn't see her in TV from time to time he would remember her every feature. She was very pretty, admittedly, but of course- someone so headstrong and interesting as she was... her face was not the main thing about her one would remember.

One of the most entertaining facts about her was how her personality changes to a mildly sweet beautiful little girl to a calm and composed tiger ready to slit anyone's throat every time she held a racket. She didn't growl or anything remotely similar but her aura certainly felt that way. Her golden cat-like orbs added to that effect. Her eyes... eyes so deep one would feel you are transparent in front of it.

He watched her do one of her and her family's trademark moves: the Samurai Zone. She was staring calmly at the ball that was heading directly towards her. He flinched in intimidation. He would never get used to that.

"Eh, Kojiro's staring at Reina-chan again~ How naughty." He winced immediately and reflexively turned the screen off. He frowned and looked at his older sister, Kaname. Like him, she had natural raven hair but didn't dye it like he did. But that aside, she was being in her annoyingly teasing state again, and it disconcerted him. Especially since she was teasing him with Reina.

"Like I said, we're just friends."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't help myself."

He sighed. She was not convinced- and she probably never would- so he calmly opened the television again and watched her play again.

Echizen Reina. Who would have thought they would become good friends? It had been 7 years since they saw each other but he still vividly remembered how they met. They had remained in contact, somehow, by snail mail. He thought they should change to e-mails like him and Syusuke were doing, but her father was very… conservative.

No. The right word was 'technophobe'.

The bright side of it was he was settling for his 'magazines' instead of going to those hideous internet sites even children nowadays go to. He didn't care about that though, not really. He would prefer better contact with his friend any day.

"I wonder when she'll visit us again. I mean she won the Grand Slam, now, didn't she?" Kaname said and held up a picture frame. It held a small picture of her brother and his two closest friends back then.

"Hai." He nodded and eyed the frame with a mix of emotions. It should be soon. Reina focused too much in her career, and her family fully supported her on it, letting her shun practically everything else. He saw Rinko-basan visit her family from time to time, but she never brought Reina with her. She was, apparently, too busy training with her father and brother.

In any case, now that she's the best… she should have more time for herself now, right?

He wanted to see her again…

To play with her once again, of course.

…

SEIGAKU TENNIS COURTS, TOKYO

Classes were staring soon, and somehow the team had decided to play around in the tennis courts before it. He watched as his teammates held practice matches, and his eyes ended on a little moment that had happened countless times in the past.

It was Kawamura, being as meek as usual, and he held a rocket suddenly turning to a different person altogether. He smirked when he started shouting English words with his bad accent.

He was immediately pulled out of his daze, though, and turned to his side- where he felt a stare. It was Tezuka.

"I won't ask." He said stoically, and Fuji knew he assumed something disconcerting.

"It's not that, Tezuka." He corrected. "I was just remembering an old friend of mine. She's similar to Kawamura in the sense that she changes when she holds a racket."

"I see…" Tezuka said in his trademark baritone voice, as he continued to stare at his teammates alternatively. "This person must be very important to you."

Fuji's eyes widened immediately. "That obvious?"

"Hai."

"Eh… that's very troublesome."

"How so?"

He let out a deep breath and looked at the clouds. Very calming creations they were...

Fuji smiled. "She doesn't see me like that."

_BOINK_

"GREATTOOO!" Kawamura yelled, and Tezuka looked at him. Fuji felt like laughing as he tried to imagine what his good friend was picturing.

"No, Tezuka, she does not yell like that." Then he was no longer able to stifle his laughter. "-that would be very funny, though."

Tezuka nodded. He had never looked at anyone like how Fuji looked at thin air from time to time, but he agreed about how amusing it would be to see serious people yell like that. He looked at how impressive his team was becoming. They may not have won the National Championship during their 6 years together, but they got into the nationals every single time, placing a spot in the top 4.

They were dreamers, though, and this was their last year before they live their lives- be they lives in universities or working for income. He wanted them to be the best team in the country in _everyone's_ eyes for a change, not just his.

"Fuji." He called and the other boy looked at him. "Let us play."

…

Later that day, the Echizens finally arrived in Chiba, Japan. They hired a taxi, and they dropped off in front of a Japanese-style mansion huge enough to accommodate a whole clan and a number of guests. At the moment, though, only Oji, Motaro Shudou (Rinko's cousin) and his son, and Meino Nanako (Rinko's niece).

So that would make 8 human beings- and looking at Karupin- a few animals would be living in the mansion from then on. They had made customary greetings and gleeful hugs. Even Oji- who could barely move his facial muscles- seemed visibly glad to see them again.

They ate dinner and caught up, especially with regards to Reina and her success in the tennis team. Satoshi narrowed his eyes at her, making her stare at him.

"What is it Satoshi-aniki?" she said after gulping a bite.

"I still can't accept I still couldn't defeat you in tennis."

"The last time we played was 7 years ago."

Satoshi rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously, I'm far from the best in Japan let alone give you a good game." Reina shrugged, and Satoshi continued interviewing her.

"…with that in mind. Are you retiring from the tennis world completely?"

"Maybe. I'll still play against you guys, though." Ryoga quickly chewed his food to comment.

"That would be so boring though... for you, don't you think?" It had been a while since Ryoga retired. He had hobbies that were not tennis. Like getting girlfriends, for instance, and it was the reason he could say something like that.

"What are you talking about? I haven't beat Oyaji yet."

"So Baka-oyaji's your only target? Mind shifting your attention to other things now, Reina?" Ryoga commented, and he flinched immediately when Nanako clasped her hands and excused herself. She excitedly went up stairs to get something and Reina stared at her mother. She knew something about this, she could tell.

"What are you planning, mother?" Actually, _everyone_ knew something. Well, except Ryoga. He was too noisy.

Rinko grinned at her daughter. "Nanako and I made up a plan to help you make up for the 16 years that you had lost."

"It's not like I disliked living that way-" she stated and the boys nodded in agreement. Rinko's enthusiastic expression didn't falter though, much to their puzzlement, and Nanako soon arrived with a conspicuous-looking dress.

"What is that?"

"A uniform." Her eyes twitched.

"I could see that." She said distastefully glaring at the attire. It was a long-sleeved maroon-themed uniform. But it was seriously short- especially since she _had_ grown a bit taller since she was 12.

"Whoever implemented those types of uniforms should be sued."

Nanako puffed her cheeks. "Mou, Reina-chan~" Nanako was quite proud of the cute uniform, after all.

But Reina ignored her and started eating again. She was smart- everyone knew that, and even if she wasn't she would know what the bloody hell they were planning. She had always been home-schooled, so why the sudden change? Oh that's right- apparently, she had to make up for the 16 years she had 'lost'.

"You're going to school, Reina."

"Nadda." She'd really rather not. A few people looked at each other, and in the end Satoshi was the one to speak.

"You'll be going to the same school as me and Saeki."

_Silence_

That made her pause and think. For an instant, she thought she was going to blush. Every time she thought about a certain closed-eye player she felt her cheeks go warmer. A certain cow-haired guy, too, of course. They were her first Japanese friends, and in retrospect the _only_ good friends that she had aside from her family members.

She mused about it and glared at the uniform (again). She considered cross-dressing but that was out of the question. Her body, sadly, had matured too much for her to continue doing that little precaution. Why did she hate the idea of going to school in the first place, again? She forgot.

Whatever.

She was going to see them again. And it's all that matters...

Not that she'll admit it.

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 1**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 2: Realization**

* * *

...

* * *

Thank you for reading!

I would love to hear what everyone thought. :D


	2. Revelation

**No fuji for this chapter! BE WARNED. XD And special thanks to those who reviewed, added this to their C2s, and fav'ed by the way! They all make me so happy!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Prince of Tennis, as well as **Amou Nami** from La Corda D' Oro

* * *

…

* * *

**CHAPTER 2: Realizations**

SHUDOU HOUSEHOLD

Satoshi was doing his homework as his grandfather sipped his tea. After some time though, he realized he was going to take longer than expected and his grandfather wanted to watch television with him. But since he was nowhere near done he let him go ahead.

A few more hours later he had finally finished, quite confident he'll get full marks, he suddenly felt tired. He looked at the paper proudly. His grandfather loved seeing lovely scores, after all, even when he was just shaking a little more than usual to most people.

He yawned and looked at the clock. It was just 9:00pm but he really was already very sleepy. The show his grandfather wanted to watch with him was probably over, too, so he decided he'll go to bed a little earlier than he usually did. He passed by the kitchen and living room which contained most of the living beings in the women (minus a certain kitchen-destroyer) were washing dishes, while the men were watching soap operas.

He bid silent good nights and he eventually reached the corridor that had the one phone the household owned. It didn't take long for him to see that someone was there beside it... standing firm beside the contraption as she held the frozen headset to her ears.

It was Reina, unsurprisingly, and he knew immediately who she was calling.

"You're calling the Fujis…?" He voiced out, a little nervous.

"Hai. Are they on vacation?" Reina asked, "I'm planning on inviting those two over for tomorrow..."

"No."

Reina narrowed her eyes at the sudden change in expression. "And…?"

He hesitated, but knew there was no use hiding it from her now. "They… moved out…" he finally breathed. "…some time ago."

_Silence_

"Wha-"

Reina's eyes widened and she was not able to mask her surprise. She could barely think of anything coherent to utter either, and million questions ran to her mind, but she calmed down slightly when her cousin patted her head.

She looked down the floor. She overreacted, didn't she? But in her 16 years, there were barely opportunities where she got excited on things that was not tennis. The news was beyond disappointing... but she composed herself immediately.

She looked at him. "Since when?"

"A few months after you got back to the states."

"But, my letters-"

"They used a forwarding system."

"Why did you hide it, then?" She asked inquisitively. If they didn't, at least one of them should have mentioned his leave. She waited for him to speak.

"He asked us to-" he raised her hand to cut her off. "No. We don't know, either. But it's_ Syusuke_- he must have his reasons."

"B-"

"Just ask him when you meet again. Tokyo isn't that far."

"He's in Tokyo?" she voiced out and put the phone down. She slouched her back to the wall in ponder, making Satoshi tilt his head. He pointed at the phone.

"You're not going to call Saeki?"

"I... can't…" her voice was nervous, trailing off quite uncharacteristically. "I might show my disappointment that the three of us aren't together."

Satoshi shook his head. "I don't think you will." Wasn't she too stoic for that? But then again, she had not seen her friends for _years..._

"I won't risk it, Aniki." She said decisively, looking away. "We're going to the same school, anyway. I don't see why we won't meet by chance."

"He'd be offended that you didn't say anything for _days_, you know. I might slip up tomorrow at practice."

"The tennis club is on break tomorrow, baka. You said so yourself."

His eye twitched. "Very well. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"Then... I'll show you I know him better, then." she said confidently, obviously trying to hide her shaken state. Satoshi decided not to push it and proceed to the original plan:

Sleep

*The next day*

Reina bid her goodbye to her excited family members who _all_ saw her out. They were all creepily waving at her as she left the house. Satoshi had to leave early for morning practice, but he asked her if she wanted to come see them practice. But Reina wasn't that much of an early bird- so she refused his invitation. Well, that and her mother absolutely forbade her to do anything tennis-related in school for at least one week.

She didn't mind though. She had been playing for years, she didn't see why a week break would be a bother. It would be interesting to follow her mother and brother's suggestion once in a while, as well.

Reina looked at the sky and marveled the clouds. Such peaceful, simple, yet utterly beautiful inventions they were...

_Whoosh~_

She got hold of her skirt immediately- just in case. She glared at it again. The first was short, but not as short as she had anticipated. And this annoyed her because it meant she wasn't as tall as she thought she was. In any case, it was still a few inches above the knee, and even with her cycling shorts she simply didn't feel comfortable with it.

She had to 'threaten' her mother to buy her a longer skirt. Skirt…

How long was the last time she wore a skirt, anyway? She couldn't remember… Her mother never forced her to wear the monstrosities before she agreed on spending her life for tennis by herself. It was the reason she minimized her complaining- her mother had allowed her to live as she wanted for so long, she couldn't refuse.

It had been so many years since it started, hadn't it? When normal kids were playing video games and hanging out with friends... _she_ was training her body and soul. She didn't see much because she really was content with the life she had lived so far.

Well, for most part. She really did miss those two boys- and they must have been through a lot during her absence.

She wondered how much she really missed.

…

ROKAKKU HIGH

Reina continued her leisure walk to school, she had opened her ipod several minutes prior to listen to her favorite classical music. She kept her eyes closed since it really was relaxing that way. Reina stayed like that, occasionally opening her eyes to look at the pavement, until she could see the school gates. It was kind of new to her- the ancient feel the gate, and the building gave off. Well actually, it was just plain old and barely maintained. It was then that Ave Maria played and she closed her eyes again, to feel every single note as she travelled.

"Sumimasen. Sumimasen. SUMIMASEN!"

She abruptly opened her eyes and reflexively took off one of her earphones, before turning around. It was a very hyperactive boy cycling at the rate of 50 km/hr. Everyone stepped away from the sidewalk's center, and she quickly did the same. She halted her step as she did so, and for a split second- their eyes met.

_SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!_

_**BAM!**_

And he went to a full 180 degree turn before ending up on the ground- right in front of the school gates. Reina's eyes widened and she gestured to go to him when she saw a number of students already did. Two boys helped him up, and another two held up his bike.

For a moment she wondered if he was some sort of popular guy, since everyone was so willing to help. Maybe so, but by watching them she knew there was something else...

The people there were really just like that: Kind. And a small smile crept up her face.

She liked this place already.

…

Reina soon continued walking to the gates again, seeing she had already wasted a minute or two watching the events unfold. The opening ceremony was starting soon and she she wondered why he was still standing there. He stiffened when she neared him.

"Ano…" She blinked. He was staring at her, meaning to say something. She stared back, making him wince slightly. Now that she had the time to look at him, she found out that he was very tall with a half-bald hairstyle. Somehow he gave off the impression of a basketball player.

He was just gaping at her. For a boy who emitted so much energy, he sure was being quiet. She continued her steps, stopping right in front of him.

"Have we met before?" she asked. She was never good at remembering _names_, but she could usually remember a person's face at the least. And as far as she's concerned- she had never met this boy. But since he was gaping at her like that, she wasn't really sure anymore…

"N-No, we haven't." he answered, slightly blushing, and Reina tilted her head.

"Is there something on my face, then?"

His eyes widened and he immediately looked away. "N-No."

"I see…"

"A-Anyway," he stuttered, willing to change the topic. "You're new here, aren't you? Are you a freshman, too?"

"Yes, and yes." She answered and looked at him. _He's_ a freshman? He's really tall…

_Lucky guy…_

"Does everyone here know everybody?" she asked back, since he immediately knew she was new. He shook his head.

"That is usually the case, but…" he stole a glance and looked away. "I thought I'd at least hear about someone like yo- _Anyway_, shall we walk to the freshman orientation together?" he chuckled awkwardly. "I'm Aoi Kentaro, by the way."

"Echizen Reina." She said, initiating their move on.

"Eh?" he uttered and narrowed his eyes, following her steps. "You have the same last name as that famous pro tennis player I admire and respect."

He squinted his eyes. "Now that I think about it… you look a bit similar, too."

"Domo." She shrugged and continued walking. Aoi sighed.

"It's a bummer he retired. But then, nobody blamed him and very few were surprised. He was on the top already anyway, at least he retired while he was at the top. I wonder how old he was…" Nobody knew her age. She cross-dressed and wore light make-up that would make sure she really did look like a guy- since after puberty her feminine features got way more pronounced. In any case, she disliked this topic.

"And I wonder where he's at now…"

She let out a deep breath and looked around. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

He flinched. "Oh, right." He laughed awkwardly (again) and pointed at their right. "Here."

Aoi opened the door for her and they entered rather inconspicuously.

They arrived with most of the students already at their seats. _The freshman orientation, eh?_ she mused, very interested. This was the time when the person who topped the entrance exam would make a speech, too. It was her first time in school, so something like that was definitely interesting.

She wished she had taken up the entrance exam as well. She _had_ arrived from America just a few days prior, and the results had been released way before then. She didn't know what her parents did to get her in, but in the end she wished she deserved it. She heard not everyone passed, after all.

"Echizen?" Aoi asked waving his hand on her face. "What class are you in?"

"1-A"

"Eh?" he blinked and pointed at himself. "We're classmates! Yatta!"

"Ah..."

They walked to their row together, and she saw that Aoi was pretty popular. A lot of people were greeting him and giving him pats on the back and high-fives. Some kept quiet when they saw her, and many of them looked slyly at Aoi afterwards, but she just focused on getting to her seat.

Her class was on one of the front rows, so it wasn't hard to enter. She sat by a girl with orange hair, who was shamelessly looking at her. She remained quiet the whole time, and willed herself to ignore all the stares.

Fortunately, the principal started speaking soon after and congratulated them- saying that they have a very promising new batch and they will try their best to hone them to the best type of citizens they could be. A few more words later and he finally called in the freshman representative. He cleared his throat.

"Aoi Kentaro."

She blinked. _Seriously?_

Now that she thought about it, he suddenly disappeared when she took her seat…

Reina watched him go up the platform confidently. She listened to his energetic speech, which certainly got everyone's attention, with interest and amusement.

"…make this year one hell of a year to start off our High School life!" And everyone clapped vehemently; she felt that some even wanted to yell.

She smirked.

What an interesting day…

…

ROKAKKU TENNIS COURTS

Shudou Satoshi and Saeki Kojiro were rallying for their early morning practice. Saeki, along with his other team members, noticed the good mood Satoshi and Oji was in the first thing that morning. They wondered if something happened with the family during the weekend.

"Oi, Kojiro." He called as he went after his shot.

"What?"

"My cousin's at home." He smirked, lobbing a ball. He 'slipped-up', after all.

Saeki glared as he fervently smashed it. "I'm not falling for that again." Last time he said that- only Ryoga was there.

"Ie. Reina's here, too." He froze and Shudou took that chance.

_BAM!_

Satoshi chuckled. "30-0"

"N-No fair!"

"Every opportunity is golden, Kojiro." he said.

"…that explains why you're our poison taster." Kojiro commented, masking his surprised state. "But, seriously though- I won't get fooled by that again."

Satoshi dribbled the ball and served. "Ah, but I'm not joking."

"Oi, Oi, Satoshi-" he spat in disapproval before hitting the ball with all his might and it earned him a return ace.

Shudou chuckled. "It's true, you know."

"Why hadn't she contacted me, then?"

"Kojiro… you haven't met in 7 years. I doubt a few days makes much of a difference."

_Twitch_

"Did I offend you?"

"You didn't." Kojiro gritted his teeth. "Let's just play, okay?"

And that they did- with Saeki maintaining his cool as he hampered his irritation towards his friend_s_. He did not notice the regular members who had arrived. Kurobane watched them in interest before speaking, and he scratched his spiky head as he grinned at the two players.

"Eh… This game is getting heated, Oji. What happened?" the old man nodded, as always, and Bane just chuckled. It was a capped long-haired boy who answered.

"I just arrived, but I'm guessing Saeki and Shudou were talking about something… personal."

"I see… they go way back, after all. That included you, right, Ryou? You seem happy."

"Not really." He shrugged turned away. Kurobane shrugged at his lie, and continued to watch. He flinched at Saeki's extremely skilful volley as a counter. He clenched his fist and stared at Ryou.

"In any case, they're getting me in the mood for a good game. Ryou- wanna play with me?"

"Sure, Bane." He looked around, for an empty court. He batted an eyelid at a realization.

"I've been wondering… where's Davide and Itsuki?"

"They were assigned to take care of the paper works for the club sign-ups later on."

That statement took Ryou aback, and Bane was not surprised. "Why them?"

"Oji pointed on them randomly, poor guys."

Ryou scoffed. "Poor _us_. Are they even capable of handling paper works?"

"Who knows…" Bane shrugged but then Shudou suddenly hit a wicked smash arousing his battle senses. He whipped his head to Ryou who winced at his enthusiasm. He raised his hand to make him stop.

"Okay, _okay_. Let's play."

…

1-A, Later

Reina arrived at her homeroom and went directly at the chair second from the back (since the farthest was already taken) and sat right beside the window.

_Rustle. BAM! Squeak._

She flinched and whipped her head beside her when she heard the weird noise.

"Yow." It was Aoi, unsurprisingly, and he was waving his hand as if they weren't a meter apart. She noticed the two other guys who were puffing their cheeks and stomped away.

"Haha." A laugh from behind her echoed, and she looked at her. It was a girl with curly bright brown hair, and she was grinning at her in amusement. Now that she recalled, she was the one sitting beside her at the orientation.

"They were fighting for that seat. In case you're wondering." Reina looked at the flustered Aoi, and then to the seats in front of her. They were all taken, so they must be like her then… wanting to have a better view of the outside every time, and they needed the closest available seat to the window.

She stared at Aoi and her two classmates flinched. "I won't switch with you."

"H-Ha?" Aoi blinked and the girl laughed. She tapped her back to get her attention, and then gestured for a handshake.

"You're interesting!" she grinned. "I'm Amou Nami, by the way. Call me Nami."

Aoi pouted. "Being so familiar with her already-"

"Ara? Aren't you the same? Don't think I didn't see that accident at the gate."

He batted an eyelid, "Aiya~ How embarrassing." he whispered but remained his usual optimistic self. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Nami grinned and took out her SLR.

"I have a photo, you know." The other two stared. Is that even allowed in school?

Aoi frowned at her. "It's not allowed to bring gadgets in school."

"Ah. But I can if I join the photography club."

"Ah- Speaking of clubs..." Aoi intervened and looked at Reina. "Wanna join the tennis team? The girl's tennis team needs some more members, preferably ones who weren't there to ogle at some of our members…"

Reina sweat-dropped and remembered what her mother said. "No thanks."

"Eh, But-"

"Join the photography club, then." But Reina shook her head again. She was gifted with inhuman sight and sense for moving objects. It was beyond disturbing if the 'genius device' couldn't capture what _she_ could.

"Can you be my model, then?" Nami asked bluntly. "With that face- you'd definitely succeed in the business. Let me train you!"

"I'd really rather not…" she said. She's fine with photos if there really was a moment to be captured- but to capture what _she_ looked like at the moment simply didn't seat well with her. And so the two other freshmen looked at each other in puzzlement.

"What club would you join then?"

The question made her enter a daze. She had lived for tennis- so if anything, she'd do something sporty. A moment of silence passed, and the other two joined her daze to find good suggestions.

"Want to try the Kendo club? A senpai of mine in the tennis club tried it out for some time… I thought it's pretty cool."

"Kendo… the one with swords?"

"Yep. That's it." He answered and mused how Kendo could help her improve her swings further. _Interesting…_

"Okay. I'll give it a shot." She said, getting the two's nod. The teacher came in soon after, and their classes started.

A few hours later- when the classes was finally over for the day, the three of them walked together to the front of the school were all the clubs had set up their respective booths for sign-ups. The clubs Aoi and Reina were joining had very long lines, while Nami's had a normal one.

"Hmph- that's the tennis team for you." Nami muttered begrudgingly. "They're one of the best, after all."

"Eh…"

Aoi grinned at her expression. "So have you changed your mind yet?"

"No." she looked at the line for Kendo again. "The Kendo club must be one of the best, too, right?"

"Hm… they're good but in ranking it doesn't come close to the tennis club's achievement." Nami said. "Many of the guys there are joining because of the captain, Murayama-san. She's very pretty."

"That's her right?" Reina asked when they got close enough to see. Even with the small proximity she could see the aesthetically exceptional features she had. She even had a mole below her lower lip, and pretty green eyes. She had ponytailed her hair, but Reina approximated that it should be around hip long without it.

Reina recalled when she had that long hair. It was such a hassle that she cut it off (without permission) causing her father to sulk all day. It proved to be a useful decision though, when she started doing professional matches and had to cross-dress.

"Earth to Echizen..."

"Ah." She walked, hiding the fact that she was in a daze. "We should go now." she stated, and they nodded. They separated and she stood by the line, getting the guy's gapes.

"It's Echizen." She heard from the front. And soon enough she was ushered to the front of the line. When she had their backs on them, she could hear them whisper about how gentlemanly they were to her.

The captain was prettier up close, and she was laughing at the scene they just made. She had stern eyes though, and it emitted a serious but approachable air. "It must be hard to have such a beautiful face."

She ignored the older girl's comment. "Senpai… I want to sign up." She said, stating the obvious. But then the girl really did looked surprised.

"Really? I'm glad! There's finally four of us females now." She grinned and Reina tilted her head in wonder. Murayama asked her to fill in a form, and said she'll be looking forward to meeting with her again the next morning. She said morning practice start at 7:00, an hour-and-a-half prior to class.

Reina nodded and thanked her before turning around to walk away. She thanked the guys who let her go in front getting them to grin sheepishly at her. She cringed, but since she did not quite know what had gotten into them- she could only smile.

As she walked though she could feel uncomfortable arrows of stares behind her back and she flinched. '_What are they staring at?' _

_'Weirdos...'_

She hastened her pace to the gates. It had been an interesting day, but she would never get used to being stared at like that by grown men. She headed to the gates, and for a moment she thought she'd finally be able to escape.

It was wishful thinking, though...

"OI~ ECHIZEN!" She frowned, especially when _everyone_ was staring at her now. She walked to him in slight irritation.

"That was fast." He commented, and stepped forward as the line moved. Reina begrudgingly followed and told him the boys were being gentlemen. Aoi blinked and _then_ pouted causing the boys in front of him wince.

"Man. I should be getting the special treatment." He said out-loud, but they scoffed at him. They knew him, of course. Most of them went to the same middle school, after all. Aoi let out a deep breath.

"Ungrateful."

"What are you talking about, Aoi? The middle school section had more than enough pictures of you." One of the boys said in amusement and a few laughed in agreement. Aoi pouted again and turned to her, seeing there was nothing to brag with _them_ anymore.

He pompously crossed his arms. "I was the captain back in middle school, you know."

"Eh…" she said, a tad impressed. "I'm still surprised that you're the freshman representative."

"How ru-" he stepped again as the long line moved. "-de."

Reina smirked lightly before turning to the table. They were quite noisy there, too. Seeing them up close, she saw that there was someone who asked every applicant _something_, and the other one consistently made bad puns.

"They were my teammates 3 years ago. They're awesome." Aoi announced proudly, and they were close enough to the table so they heard.

"Aoi-kun~!"

The other blew _steam_ from his nose. "Buchou."

Aoi grinned, and nonchalantly cut the line. "See?"

The curly orange-haired pun-maker shook his head. "No. Fall in line."

_THUMP_

The sound of Aoi losing his footing.

"_EH?_" he stared at the orange-haired boy in unmasked shock. "WHY?"

Then a sly smirk crept up the boy's face.

"Staying in line is like working on a mine, take a short cut and you might get pined. Linemine. Pfft-" he looked behind him.

Reina flinched. _Was he expecting to get hit? _

Aoi begrudgingly went back to his spot, and Reina gestured to leave when one of the boys appeared beside her- blocking her path.

"Why are they all looking at you?"

"Why do you know our former buchou?"

"Nande, Nande?" Then he blew his nose, making her flinch- as if there were boogers.

"Mou, don't scare her away Itsuki-san! I'm still trying to find a way to convert her to tennis!"

"Eh? Convert? Tennis is so much fun. Why don't you join?"

She weakly shook her head. "I'm trying Kendo, now."

"Ehh. Same as Saeki." He shrugged but then stared at her again. "Why? Why do you look surprised?"

"Ah…"

"So the senpai you were talking about was Saeki?" She whispered to Aoi, and he nodded weakly in puzzlement. She took a pondering stance and emerged with a determination he didn't quite understand.

"Maybe I'll take a look at the club, after all. Just a look, though."

Aoi didn't get it, but he rejoiced all the same. Itsuki absorbed the energy and he joined in, too- much to Reina's embarrassment.

"YATTA!" They yelled simultaneously and all she could do was face-palm.

Her mother said live like a normal teenage girl: _It would be fun, _she said.

Ugh.

_What has she gotten herself into?_

Oh well. At least she'll see Kojiro again.

And yet something kept poking her. Kojiro would have mentioned he took Kendo in one of his letters, right...? Somehow her intuition was telling her this was not trivial. That he would have mentioned it, unless he was _trying_ to hide it from her.

Now, now... why would he do that? She mentally scanned through the images of the letters in her head. Was it possible for her to miss something they wrote? No. That was one other things she had confidence at: she would _never_ forget what the wrote in the letters.

The letters. First Syusuke, and now Kojro. They were her sole connection with them since she gave her all in tennis. She had honestly thought that they would contain everything she had missed with them. It was naive, but it was the belief that made things feel tolerable. Her fist clenched.

She didn't want to know _everything_. She simply didn't want them to hide anything from her.

Was that too much to ask?

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 2**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 3: Play  
**How would Saeki and Fuji say about her arrival? And did the Kendo club's captain have _something _ to do with Saeki...?

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS:**

**ChordOverstreetFan- **hehe. You sure do love guessing wha'll happen next, huh? XD I won't tell though! haha. Thx for the comment~!

**Lysandera- **Yeiy~! I'm glad. XD Kinda striving to do that for a while. hehe Thank you for the review~! I hope you liked this update. :D

**KiTten18sMiLe- **Haha. You're an epic Thrill pair fan, huh? XDD Here it is~ Hope you liked it and thank you for the comment~!

**Yoruko Rhapsodos- **Yeah it's an interesting to add especially since many fem! Ryo fics do that. But she's already 16 here. I doubt she'll make a fuss over a skirt. Maybe frills, but I don't think school uniforms are _that_ bad. XD Thx for the review, btw!

**Rainbow Cloud- **Still can't get over the penname change. LOL. And i'm glad you thought so! Thx for the review~

**Akela Victoire- **Whew! That's a relief. ahaha. And thank you for the review~! XD

**xxxninJAxxx- **It is here! LOL. I hope I didn't disappoint. (:D Thanks for the review, btw!

**ChibiSoulReader- **I'm glad to hear that. ;D Thank you for the review~!

* * *

...

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**

**I would appreciate everyone's comments! :D  
**


	3. Play

**Thank you for reading this far! **Additional thanks to those who reviewed, faved, followed, and/or C2d this story~! It's very nice of you to make the effort. :D **  
**

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Prince of Tennis, as well as Amou Nami from La Corda D' Oro

* * *

…

* * *

**CHAPTER 3: Play**

TOKYO

Fuji was walking back home in a daze. He wondered if he really should have left school so early. It was sign-up day for freshmen and the coach allowed the reserve players to do free play, while the regulars were allowed to take an early leave. She said it was some sort of break after their practice game with Fudomine.

Their practice game with Fudomine. He remembered the only scene he absorbed that time and he sighed.

_He was playing against Ibu Shinji. He was winning, unsurprisingly, and that he kept up in the end. When they shook hands though, Ibu glared at him making him wince by a millimeter._

"_What is it?"_

"_It's offending to be defeated by someone who wasn't even paying attention. Seriously what were you thinking about? Must a girl. How seriously annoying…"_

"_SHINJI!" Tachibana yelled, and Ibu winced immediately.  
_

"_Gomennasai."_

_But Fuji did not get mad. He just remained impassive and denied the claim as calmly as he could._

_Even if it was true._

He didn't realize that he was thinking about her until it was pointed out. It was so disconcerting that even in the 7 years that passed she was still appearing in his head. That announcement of her retirement didn't help, either. It had been a few days since the press conference and he wondered what she'd be doing next…

He reached the gate of his house and stared at the mailbox. Even if her letters had gone from weekly to monthly to even longer, he couldn't stop himself from looking into it every day. He became the official bill-getter since then. He stared at the metal and took a deep breath… slowly opening it like an idiot.

_Creek_

And his eyes widened. It didn't look like those envelopes that were for bills. _'Could it be?'_

He grabbed it immediately and looked at the source. It was from Chiba, so for a moment he thought it was just from Saeki... suddenly deciding to change their email routines. But then as he read further, he saw her name: Echizen Reina.

_Whoosh~_

His hold of it softened when he saw her name. The next thing he knew it was already flying. His eyes widened in fear and he immediately went after it. He cursed the wind for continuously playing with him- and the few minutes game of tag felt like a whole torturous hour.

Soon, the wind _finally_ calmed down letting the letter land somewhere on the street. He could not even take a second to breathe and ran to it immediately, for fear it would escape his sight again.

But then... he heard footsteps approaching the letter's current spot.

A hand took it up, causing Fuji shoulders to jerk.

"Ara…? A letter, nya?"

"Eiji!" He exclaimed making his teammate hide behind his doubles partner. "Oishi."

"F-Fuji… is this yours?" Oishi asked taking the letter from the flustered Eiji.

"Fujiko is scary, nya~!"

"Gomen, Eiji, I was just… tired since I had to follow it all the way here from my house."

"Eh…" Eiji nodded in assent and then instinctively went to look at the sender when-

"Nya?" The letter disappeared from Oishi's hand.

It seemed that Fuji quickly took away from their sights. He smiled like he usually did but they could not help but shiver due to something in the atmosphere as he turned around, forcing the duo to keep their thoughts to themselves.

"Saa… I should be going now." Fuji said dismissively. "Ja."

And Seigaku's Golden Pair could only look at each other in puzzlement.

**…**

FUJI RESIDENCE

Syusuke made a quick 'Tadaima' to whoever was at the house and ran to his room to read the letter. He sat by his study table and went to look at its content, taking care of it and made sure he didn't look too excited. He inhaled a good amount of oxygen to help him think properly.

_Syuu,_

_You probably know this by now... that I retired from the Pro Tennis World. I'm currently in Japan._

_Fuji blinked. Right to the point, eh? _That's just like her, he thought in amusement. He controlled his excitement well.

_I'm in Chiba now, as you may have seen in the letter head. And I'm going to school. My mother and Nananko wanted me to live like a 'normal' girl, so here I am. I'm going to Rokakku, btw. _

_Rokakku_? Saeki was there...

He shook his head- there was no need to worry about such things now, so he kept on reading.

_By the time you got this, I should have already done my first day here. I don't know what to expect, but I'll trust my mother when she said it would be worth it. I felt kind of disappointed that you weren't here anymore._

His heart skipped an even larger beat that moment.

_Why didn't you tell me you moved out?_

Fuji read that with Reina's questioning voice and his hold of the paper softened once more.

Why did he refuse to tell her, again?

It was because back then, he didn't see anything good happening if he did. He regretted the decision, but he didn't blame himself… much. He hid it from her because Chiba was the place where they had met and became friends. He knew she would not come back in _years_, but he honestly thought it would take longer for her to take the world title and not… when she was barely 16.

He thought that if he told her prematurely, the connection between them would soften, and the memories they had together at Chiba would blur faster. It was hard to explain, but under normal circumstances there was a good chance of that actually happening.

He stared at the letter again. Nothing followed. _That was it?_

He was a tad disappointing but it was blown away easily by a few of her succeeding words. He looked at the after note again, and a genuine smile got plastered on his face.

_P.S. I will be writing every week from now on. I expect you to do the same._

That's just like her… telling him that. He'd be writing everyday if he didn't think it was a bother for her. So he let out a small chuckle and opened his cabinet full of her letters. He placed it there carefully, making sure the chronological order wasn't ruined.

Then, he heard a knock.

"Syusuke." It was her sister, and he asked her to come in. "I brought some tea." She said looking at his face.

"She sent a letter, hadn't she?"

"She's in Chiba now." he stated and she remained silent as she absorbed the surprising information.

"I'm guessing you want to go there." She smiled, and placed his cup carefully on his table. "It's weekdays you know, it's more practical to wait until the weekend."

"But…"

"You waited 7 years, Syusuke. Shouldn't 5 more days be tolerable?"

He froze with his brain frantically looking for an excuse. "But she's _here_ just a few hours away."

"Then think of it this way- it's her first day of school ever. Don't you think she'd want more time to get to know her new surroundings before you spoil it?"

But before he could counter, his sister was already by the door. She paused and waited for him to think of a good excuse, but there was nothing that was not selfish. Syusuke could not be selfish with Reina.

_Darn it._

Now he had to wait for five more torturous days.

* * *

ROKAKKU TENNIS CLUB

The regulars and old members were practicing like they always did: with Oji watching them quietly. The kids were one of the noisiest there, though, cheering for their favorites as they learned new techniques. The high school section was much farther from Oji's wooden playground than the middle school section, but the classes hadn't started there yet. And the children usually went in alteration.

Besides, the best players in Chiba was there at that court anyway. Except for Aoi, who just arrived. Everyone knew of his arrival the moment he stepped on adjacent grounds- since whoever saw him first really made some noise.

"It's KENTA! KEEEEEEEEEEEENTA!"

"Oi, Kids!" He waved back, and his companion sighed. He grinned at her and turned to them again, seeing that they had noticed her and was already gaping. She was really eye-catching, wasn't she...?

"Ehhhh~ The first day of school and Kentaro already has a girlfriend."

He flushed. "I do _not_."

"Nee-san. What's your name?"

"Echizen Reina."

"Eh, are you related to-"

"No."

"You're pretty."

"Uh, thanks?"

"You're not Kentaro's girlfriend?"

"No. Of course not."

"Hey! That was _too_ fast!"

The kid grinned. "Then, wanna be my gi-"

_BOINK!_

"Itte!" he glared at the fuming Aoi.

"Don't even think about it, kiddo."

"Baka-Kentaro!"

Reina could only sigh.

Meanwhile at the back courts... Shudou, noticing the commotion up front, decided to pause his practice game with Saeki. He was pretty sure it had something to do with either their former Buchou… or Reina. The latter was unlikely, but she could still come for Saeki or her great-grandfather.

When they came close enough though, he didn't expect it to be _both_: as in, Aoi and Reina together surrounded by the kids, and getting teased. He immediately whipped his head to Saeki's direction and he was not disappointed. The man was shocked- and he made no attempt to (or couldn't) hide it, much to Shudou's amusement.

"Ora. She's looking here, now." He teased, and Saeki immediately got flustered before forcing himself to composure. But then before he could say anything more annoying- everyone froze.

She walked to him and _smiled_.

"Kojiro." She called.

"Ah.." he replied. Somehow they entered their own little world.

_Pat Pat Pat_

His eye twitched, and he immediately got pulled out of his trance. "O-Oi."

"You actually maintained that color."

He flushed and looked away"I… found white… cool." Saeki whispered, pushing down his blush, and Shudou stifled a knowing grin.

This scene reminded him of way too many things in the past. Looking at Saeki, who was too busy pushing away his blush, Shudou decided to help his friend out.

"Reina… why don't you have dinner at their house? I'm sure they'll be thrilled." They all blinked and Reina whipped her head towards Saeki's direction.

"Can I?"

He stepped back reflexively, despite Reina not even making a single inch of movement. It was just that the anticipation in her eyes that really surprised him.

"O-Of course."

She beamed and Saeki's biological clock halted. He then winced when she seemed to have remembered something and turned to the Oji's direction.

"Ano..."

The old man smiled (in his standards) and raised his hand. Those who knew him understood. "It's alright..." he said and most of the team tilted their heads in puzzlement.

Shudou could not help but grin. And he _almost_ blurted out their relations.

But something interesting make people wonder...

And teasing curious teammates had always been a great past-time.

* * *

SAEKI RESIDENCE, Later that night

_Ding Dong_

Reina arrived at the house's door way wearing her a normal casual attire: very comfortable sweat pants. She heard a few thumps and tilted her head in ponder. But before she could come up with anything the door already opened.

"Yow."

Saeki guided her across the corridor and they ended up in the living room. The first thing she saw there was a certain picture frame that held quite amusing and beloved memories for her. It contained the photo that they took just before she went back to the States. The children of the three families were smiling as if they would be together forever. She remembered they had to semi-drag Yuuta to join them, though, he had been stubborn... and Saeki certainly made sure that he would be there.

She smiled and felt a gaze on her. She turned her face towards Saeki, who was staring at her for some reason.

"Good o-old days, huh?" he uttered and she nodded in assent. It didn't take long for someone to come down from the stairs.

"I knew it's you!" She squeaked and ran to them.

It was Kaname, and she was holding quite a large piece of picture frame. It had sides with length of half-a-meter and they wondered what she was holding it for. After a short but enthusiastic greeting from both sides, Reina asked what it was and Kaname proudly showed it to them. "_Tada~_!"

Their eyes widened at the photo- it was a stolen picture of the four of them: Reina, Kojiro, Syusuke, and Satoshi. They were sleeping side by side on the court. The lighting told them that it was nearing dusk.

They smiled simultaneously, recalling that they had just had a very memorable doubles match then…

And it was the day they met.

_-Flashback-  
_

_ROKAKKU, 7 years ago_

_Saeki and Fuji were waiting at the playground for Yuuta, who was a year younger than them."I bet he won't come."  
_

_"Of course he will. You know him..."  
_

_Saeki and Fuji had known each other since their first year in elementary school. For Saeki, it was different with Yuuta. He was never really close with him. The boy obviously felt a rivalry towards his brother as he did. And Saeki mentally scoffed at a memory.  
_

_He could still remember it- the moment they met. They were both attracted by the sound of tennis balls, from the adjacent court of their beloved playground._

_They ran the first game they were aware of and both found- simultaneously- a perfect spot. Getting that one spot was the first thing they competed about. After blabbering their arguments and getting yelled at, they decided to just stand side-by-side with one of their feet on that perfect little spot. _

_They watched them play and fell in love with tennis. It had been years since then, and in just one more year they were getting in Rokakku middle school and they were both extremely excited. It was nearing time to officially settle who's better in tennis._

Clamp_  
_

_A boy in a bicycle arrived as he always did, at the usual time. During those years- they also noticed this one person, a raven haired person with a very stern aura surrounding him despite his age. He was always accompanying that old man the players called 'Oji' home with his bicycle with a passenger seat attached to it. _

_One time, they heard him call the old man 'grandfather' and it answered most of their questions. One was left though- why was the old man always in the game? Fuji said that he could be the coach, but Saeki said it was unlikely since he was just pointing around and shivering and stuff. _

_Fuji tilted his head. "But he really was saying things…"_

"_Eh?" But Saeki shrugged._

_The practice soon ended and Yuuta had yet to arrive- Syusuke was starting to get worried. But then as the team segregated, Yuuta arrived looking as irritated as usual._

"_What took you so long?"_

"_I went on detours."_

"_Are those wounds?"_

"_I fell down." Syusuke frowned at his brother's lie, but decided to let it go. Pushing it would only make their relationship even worse. He sighed and looked at Kojiro who was shamelessly gaping at the old man as he (sllooowlly) walked towards his grandson. _

Hm._  
_

_It was Friday... and they did not have home works. Therefore, it was the _perfect_ opportunity to satisfy one's curiosity.  
_

_Fuji narrowed his deep cerulean eyes, and it looked like he actually had his eyes closed._ "_What are you thinking, Kojiro?"_

"_Wanna follow them? I'm curious. I heard Oji was the one who made this playground from Nee-san." _

"_Maybe he lives in an amusement park made of wood." Syusuke added making him flinch. _

_"Of course not!"_

"_Saa… I'm intrigued, myself."_

_And with the majority of votes (not that Yuuta had a chance), they decided to play spy and follow the two. It was hard since the boy was quick and he was in a bicycle but eventually, after recovering from a few wrong turns, they caught up._

_They stuck their heads out the wall as they saw the bicycle stop in front of a huge gate. Yuuta crossed his arms as soon as his brother let him go. _

"_Che." He muttered. "Baka Aniki."_

_Syusuke smiled calmly. "Just a little more, Yuuta. Patience."_

"_Tsk."_

_The two entered and then the three boys sprinted to where they were standing. They stiffened in awe._

"_S-Sugoi, it's a mansion. It's bigger than your house, Syusuke."_

"_Much bigger. I wonder how many people could fit in there-"_

"_I sure do hope children of Chiba have better things to do than getting in people's paths." A small, paradoxically belittling and adorable voice said from behind them. They quickly turned around and their eyes widened at the sight. It was a beautiful little girl a few years younger than they were. She had enticing golden eyes and striking facial features._

_But what intimidated them the most was that arrogant aura that surrounded her, she was staring down at them as she patted her shoulder with her tennis racket. It was Syusuke who caught his composure first._

"_You play tennis?" _

_"No. he just liked holding rackets." Yuuta scoffed, still impatient.  
_

_"As a matter of fact, I do."  
_

_"Well, duh..."  
_

_Saeki frowned. The boy was seriously getting to his nerves, despite the older Fuji's words. "Shut up, Yuuta."  
_

_"Che."  
_

_"Ne." She__ looked at their bags __with those bored apathetic eyes, seemingly ignoring that whole scene effortlessly_. "Want to play? We have a court inside."

"_Eh?" The boys looked at each other in surprise. "Sugoi!"_

"_Hm." Was all she uttered and stared at the gate- as if they were going to make way if she did so. But odd enough? They really _did_._

_Once standing on the rather nicely maintained and simple court, they decided to play doubles. It was obvious, though, that the girl was reluctant since she didn't play doubles. They tried to think of a good arrangement but she stopped them, saying it could be a nice change of pace. _

_They made little draw lots to decide the pairings and it turned out that the Fujis were to be teamed up. The girl narrowed her eyes as she observed them. It was obvious too that the younger one disliked it. So before Saeki served, the girl frowned upon him._

"_Do you have anything against me?"_

_Yuuta scoffed._ "_You're too arrogant. And you're younger than us."_

"_And you're not?" she spat coolly, and rudely pointed her racket at Syusuke making them wince. "I'm pretty sure he's older than you."_

_Yuuta's eye widened but he immediately turned it to a glare. "What do _you_ know-"_

"_And let me tell you now." She cut her off placing a vein in the boy's head, and a smirk on Saeki's face. "If you don't cooperate, you won't have any chance of winning."_

_Silence ensued for a while, and tension filled the courts. The girl sighed and looked at Saeki before nodding.  
_

_And with that, Saeki served. The game went on- and everyone was pushed to get extremely serious. The little girl was unbelievably skilled and quick- but she wasn't lying when she said she hadn't played doubles. And with that arrogance- she would have a hard time getting used to it._

_So, the Fuji's won with a score of 7-5. _

_They all took a breather and Syusuke smiled at his brother as he patted his back. But the stubborn Yuuta shook it away and glared at them. "I'm going home." He said, somewhat forcing it._

"_But, Yuuta…" Syusuke said softly only to be ignored, and the boy stomped outside. Syusuke gestured to follow but he was glared away. "I want to go home alone." He said dismissively, and they were forced to just watch him go. _

_Saeki shook his head and spoke when he was sure the boy was out of earshot. "Aiya… he's really stubborn."_

"_He'll eventually come around." The girl commented making them whip her head at her. Syusuke had arched his eyebrow, utterly serious, and it made Saeki wince. _

"_What makes you so sure?" he said, with his deep cerulean orbs staring into her golden ones.  
_

"_You're not?" And Syusuke's eyes widened further. But before he could say anything, another voice from inside the house started speaking._

"_That was an interesting game. Can I join?"_

"_Satoshi-aniki."_

_The two boys blinked. "Shudou."_

_He smirked and went into the courts to silently tell them he's in this game no matter what they said, after all. They shrugged and he joined Fuji on his side of the court. He made a quick greeting of the two and looked at the girl. He was determined to make this an incredible game._

"_Reina. Mind using your dominant hand now? It won't be fun if you don't go all-out."_

_The two boys gaped at her in incredulity. _She was a southpaw?

_She shrugged making them even more incredulous. "Fine."_

_And with that- despite their below-average teamwork, Saeki's team won 7-6. She really levelled up when she moved to her left hand. They even saw techniques she hadn't used when Yuuta was there- like the Twist Serve._

_They all walked towards the net to congratulate each other. Syusuke smiled as he shook her hand. "That was rude- holding back."_

"_If I beat you with that kid, won't that just add to his displeasing memories related to you." She said bluntly and Fuji's eyes widened again. Saeki's did, too. Who would have thought she was thinking about their welfare at this situation? They had just met her… and she was extremely haughty, as well. _

"_Mah, I'm tired." She whispered sitting on the semi-grassed lawn. "Oyasumi."_

_The two boys looked at each other, while Shudou chuckled knowingly._

"_O-Oi"_

"_Zzzz…" _

"_She's always like that. She has a monstrous immune system so don't worry. She falls asleep easily, too." Shudou answered the two's unvoiced questions, and sat beside her. "I'm tired, too." He said and used his palms as his pillow and lay down beside her. He fell asleep almost immediately, too._

_Fuji and Saeki stared at them in disbelief and then to each other. Saeki blinked at Fuji's softening expression as he looked at them- particularly at the girl. He flinched when Fuji sat beside the girl, as well. _

"_Is that even healthy?"_

"_Saa..." Fuji mumbled in amusement before laying down. "But I'd always wanted to try this out. Besides, this would make helping doing the laundry much more justifiable."_

_Saeki raised his eyebrows. "Don't you have maids?"_

_But Fuji was already snoring (or probably pretending to), as well._

_Unbelievable._

…

SAEKI RESIDENCE, Present

But as Saeki looked at the picture, he couldn't help but laugh. Obviously, he joined in.

"How the heck did nee-san get a hold of this, then?"

"She has her ways…" she continued eyeing the photo with amusement. But then she blinked. "Now that I think about it, our hairstyles were the most that changed." She said. Saeki stated the Fuji's still had the same hairstyle, while Kojiro had full ivory hair and she had extremely long one. And now that she saw an old picture- she noticed that it was _exactly_ the same hairstyle as the Kendo Club Captain.

"Eh… Murayama-san had the same hairstyle as mine."

Saeki stiffened immediately. "You knew Ayako?"

"Well, I'm trying out for Kendo since I'm forbidden to do tennis for a week." She said and turned to him. "You tried out there, right? And Ayako?"

She narrowed her eyes at his expression."Will you tell me why you graciously avoided that topic for _years_?"

"I did n-_not_ avoid the topic. I just forgot to tell you."

"So something like that you forget to tell me...?" She muttered turning away._ Who knows what she was showing..._ "You must have not told me a lot of things."

"N-No. I told you e-everything else." he said immediately. Everything he hid from her is connected to this particular fact, so it he wasn't exactly lying. He did not like that disappointing look on her face. It made him feel weak.

And then she had to suddenly stare at him with that gaze.

"Why do you look guilty, then?"

"She's my ex-girlfriend." he spat out, wanting to slap himself. That easy to make him spit everything? Oh _c'mon_...

She stared at him analytically, placing a vein on his head. "Unbelievable."

"Oi, Oi."

"Why did you break up? Is that what you're guilty about?"

"Sort of."

"What's it about?"

"I didn't think you were the gossiping type." He spat, not wanting to tackle this topic.

"Is that bad?" she whispered and looked at the picture once again. "I mean the only communication we had these past years were by snail mail. I missed a lot about you guys, didn't I?"

His eyes widened. "I s-suppose you did..."

"So, will y-"

"No."

"Hm."

_Creak_

"Tadaima~!" the door literally burst open revealing a middle aged woman. "Ara…? REINA-chan?"

It was his mother, and she became extremely energetic sharing knowing looks with Kaname (who was actually watching everything with popcorn)and both of them did not even bother to hide their delight. The jokes on Saeki was at its full force, too, much to his chagrin.

"I see Reina-chan's back..." she 'whispered'. "Can I expect grandchildren now?"

"M-MOTHER!"

Kaname slapped his back. "HAHAHHAHA. Oh look, I have a tomato for a brother."

Reina on the other hand just stared trying to make something of the jokes. '_Grandchildren, already? And what are they talking about? They really love going out of topic...'_

Saeki cleared his throat while the two women stifled a laughter. "I'm... let's eat dinner now."

"You're not going to wait for me?"

"Uncle."

He paused at the sound of her voice and turned his head to her direction. He grinned immediately. "My, what a pleasant surprise." He turned to his son. "Can I expect a grandch-"

"_Father_. I'm hungry. Let's eat." he said dismissively and his father smiled as the two women already proceeded to the kitchen.

"Hai, Hai~"

**...**

They ate dinner and chatted about various things. His whole family was there, and Mrs. Saeki said she should bring her family there from time to time as well. It had been a while since she chatted with Rinko.

She nodded and looked at the clock. It was turning rather late... her family knew where she was, but if she got home a little later they would definitely worry. Especially now that she had been under their radar for so many years, she knew that even if they didn't say anything something like this would make them anxious.

If she wasn't with the Saekis then they would probably be scratching the wall in worry right now.

She shivered at the thought.

"It's getting late now." Mrs. Saeki smiled, sensing her ponderings. Reina looked at her thankfully, and Kojiro winced immediately when his family suddenly turned to him.

"Walk her home, Kojiro."

"Ah! There's no need, though, it's not like Chiba has-"

Kaname cut her off. "It's better safe than sorry, ne, _Kojiro?"_

And it was not like Saeki had any say to this...

* * *

Reina and Saeki walked in relative silence, it was mostly uncomfortable even when neither of them were of the talkative type. Kojiro was busy composing himself. His family had a way to shake him, they knew his soft spot on Reina and he didn't understand why they kept attacking it prematurely.

They must have been very bored...

He soon found that his pace had hastened and paused when he noticed he was slightly leaving her behind. Not that she noticed, though, and she flinched immediately.

"Why'd you stop?"

"You... were too slow."

"Ah." she said and gestured to continue her stroll, probably with a higher pacing. Saeki did not move.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You and Murayama-san."

"Why do you care?" he said and his tone made them both jerk. Was he hoping for... something? He wondered.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I..." he quickly decided to drag the topic away and stop it from getting more awkward for him. "It's nothing. We dated for a bit and broke up simply because things… didn't go like we wanted to."

"Like?"

"You don't need to know that." Yeah, she really didn't.

"I'll be joining the Kendo club soon. It would be hard not to know anything."

"So that's why you're asking?"

"Partly." she shrugged and immediately narrowed her eyes. "What are you hiding?"

He didn't answer, so she unconsciously continued to interrogate him. "What did you expect when you confessed to her?"

"What makes you think I was the one who confessed?"

She stepped back. "Eh. No way."

_Twitch_

"Oi, Oi."

And they continued walking, not realizing that they had arrived in front of her house. When she said her goodbye, Saeki finally took hold of his composure and stared at her.

"Why were you interrogating me, Reina?"

"Why didn't you tell me you're were in the Kendo club?"

"Not this again..."

"I want to know."

"I have to report everything to you?" he said, but not in an annoyed way. It was more like he wanted to push her to say... something.

"Why can't I know, then?"

"B-Because, I-" he paused and stepped closer to her. "You don't have to know everything about me, you know. We're friends, but even friends hide something for the sake of privacy."

"You're right. I guess I was asking for too much." she said dismissively and turned. _What the hell-_

"Reina." he called holding her arm. "STOP."

"..."

He went a bit closer so that their faces are so close they could feel each other's breaths. "I'll... tell you when I'm ready."

"Che." she said slightly embarrassed by the proximity, but she was mostly relieved that he was not planning on hiding it forever. She continued to stare. He wanted to tell her something.

Saeki, on the other side, flinched under her stare and his weird impulses.

"Reina..." he said weakly. Darn it. What was he _thinking_ staying like this- so close to her- when he couldn't even _think_ straight?

"Hm?"

"Want to go out?"

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 3**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 4: Four Days  
**Four days left before Fuji returns to Chiba...  
Seriously, what could happen?

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS:**

**ChordOverstreetFan- **Lol. That's a relief! You might guess right if you keep trying. XD Thanks for the comment~**  
**

**Guest [7/4/12]-** Thanks for the comment~! And here it is, and I hope you liked it. :D**  
**

**Yoruko Rhapsodos- **Yeah. Hehe. That's the life of heroines. lol. And thanks for the comment! XD**  
**

******Guest [7/6/12]- **Here~! Thx for the comment, btw. haha******  
**

****** -puu26-** Ahaha. Like what? XD Here's the update~ Hope u weren't disappointing. XD Thx for the review~!:D******  
**

******mai-chan265-** I'm glad you thought so! Ah, She won't be in the tennis team for a while, btw. Yeah, I'm dragging this lol. And Thank you for the review~!******  
**

* * *

...

* * *

I would love to hear what you thought!**  
**


	4. Four Days

**A/N: **Rokakku-centric! Now, now, I wonder _why_.xDSo...no Fuji in this chap. Gomen.  
And I'd always be using 'Ryoma' for _my_ POV. hehe. Just sounds cooler. Reina is for the characters. xD

In any case, thank you sooo much for reading this far, and do leave some feedback! Thank you. (:D

**DISCLAIMER: **I WISH I own Prince of Tennis. I also wish I own **Amou Nami**, **Sakimoto Mizue**, and **Hino Kahoko** from La Corda D' Oro. If you haven't watched/read this story yet, then please google their appearances? XD It would be so awesome visualization-wise. xD

* * *

**…**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4: Four Days**  
Four days before Fuji returns. What could happen?**  
**

What . did. he. just .Blurt._Out_?!

"Go out…?" She tilted her head. "Where?"

He could swear if he wasn't an athlete, he would have lost his footing.

He forgot how dense she could be when it came to these things. Sure, she was already 16 but she hadn't exactly lived a life where she was exposed to these feelings. The closest she got were probably her rabid fans' expressions of love.

So he sighed in defeat and forced himself to his usual, analytical, self. They stared at each other and let a moment of silence passed until he was able to do so.

"Didn't you say you probably missed out on a lot…?" he said coolly. "There are… a lot of new places around. I can take you out if you want to." And then out of nowhere she smiled. It was light, but its effect on him certainly wasn't.

"I'm glad." She chuckled. "I was wondering how to ask you."

"Huh?"

"Yes. Let's hang out sometimes." She nodded, but then a thought hit her and she voiced it out immediately. "But doesn't club end a little late?"

Saeki wanted to do this, no matter what. "What about weekends, then?"

"Sounds good." She nodded. "I can't wait."

"For our date?"

"Date…"

"Yes. It's a date. Technically." he said, staring at her for her reaction. In the end, she just _shrugged._

"A date it is, then."

Saeki thought she might still have no idea what it truly meant. But he paused before assuming and asked her, 'Have you contacted Fuji yet?"

"Hai. We still send each other letters, after all." She answered. And with that, she was gone.

**...**

The moment she closed the door, her footing lost its firmness. She was beyond relieved. She was safe, for now. She did _not _expect for it to be so short-lived._  
_

_DING DONG_

Ryoma blinked, and walked back to the door. It was Saeki.

"Did you forget anything?" she asked. They had only parted 5 minutes prior. Looking at him, she could only pray she was guessing things wrong.

"I was right. You really were acting."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said and gestured to close the door when Saeki's hand got in the way and he forced his way in. The next thing she knew-

_thump_

She was pinned on the house's corridor.

"You know what I mean, Reina. Don't hide it." He said and she could swear she could hear his heart beat. If he had inhuman hearing, Saeki probably would hear hers, too. But she knew they were caused by different emotions. Hers was something she rarely felt: Fear and anxiety.

_What was he rushing all of this for, anyway? _

_"_I know I'm moving so fast, but I want you to look at me as a man. Quickly."

"W-Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I'm asking why are you in such a rush." She snapped. She might have been unexposed to these things, but one could not survive in the real world without knowing these things-these _feelings_ and emotions she had been oblivious to for an abnormally long amount of time.

"I didn't want to lose. Not when I have the upper hand by being school mates with you."

"Pardon?" She asked.

Saeki stared at her and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. So he only looked away.

"Oh, never mind."

"Saeki?" She voiced out as he walked away.

"I guess we'll just go at this at our own pace."

"Saeki?" She called again, and this time he turned to look at her. She was smiling in relief, and frankly he didn't know if he should feel glad... or hurt.

"Thank you."

* * *

...

* * *

ROKKAKU HIGH

Tuesday. The first day of official club meetings and Reina was forced to be an early bird. She went with her cousin, of course, and she was definitely not late. Murayama seemed excited for her joining and she didn't want to disappoint her.

She found the dojo for Kendo and easily found the two girls in the dojo- outnumbered by several folds. She immediately approached them and they greeted her vehemently as if she just rescued them from an airplane crash.

"You must be Echizen Reina whom we heard so much from the captain?"

"Eh?" She and Murayama just met for, like, 2 _minutes_…

But before she could ponder anything else, one of the girls vehemently shook her hand. She had a pinkish shade in her short hair and she was quite pretty. "My name is Sakimoto Mizue. I'm not this energetic- but I really am very happy. Ayako and I are already seniors- and we can't have this club be for men only!"

"Mizue-san…" the other girl, with a darker shade of maroon, smiled. She was a shy girl, Ryoma could tell.

"My name is Hino Kahoko, second year."

"Nice to meet you." She said, and they went to sit Seiza as the captain approached the door. Murayama entered and everyone quieted down. She introduced herself, and told them what to expect from the club. That was to say, harsh training. Sakimoto whispered something about half of the new entrants would probably drop out in a week.

"That harsh, eh?"

"…you can do it, though! I can feel it." She pouted. "Please don't leave us."

She sweat-dropped and nodded weakly. She didn't say anything though, it was too early to make promises.

In any case, that morning was basically an introduction to their materials and schedules. The three girls were really friendly with her, and she didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Time passed by and classes soon started. Later that morning, she entered the classroom and was greeted by Aoi who teleported from his seat and went all the way to the door about a feet away from her. "How was the Kendo club? Wanna join the tennis club, now?"

"No."

"Why?" He pouted.

"Because… I want to try a sport that is _not _tennis."

"Why?"

"Why not?" she asked back, and as if on cue a dark aura from behind Ryoma suddenly got even bigger. It was the teacher, he was pretty round and looked about he was in his late 40s. He wore rectangular eyeglasses and was balding. In any case, he did not look happy with them being noisy obstacles by the door.

"Chatting should have stopped 5 minutes ago, Aoi and Echizen. Now go back to your seats." They winced.

"H-Hai!" they answered vehemently and went directly to their seats. They watched the professor oh-so slowly walk to his table, when they heard a faint cackle from behind.

"You're such a troublemaker." Nami whispered and Aoi pulled out his tongue childishly. Nami grinned and inconspicuously took her camera out.

_Click!_

Aoi's eyes widened. "_A_H!"

A vein popped in the professor's forehead, and it became visible as he whipped his head to their direction."Is there anything you want to share, Aoi Kentaro?"

"S-She took a picture of me!"

The professor looked at Nami, who was feigning innocence. She was definitely not holding a camera. The professor sneered "Full of yourself are you not, Aoi-san?"

"D-Demo-"

"Be thankful classes are just starting. I will not be as forgiving later in the school year." He said sternly. "Understand?"

Aoi sighed. "Hai…" he said, just before sending Nami his strongest glare... which, unfortunately, was not that strong.

**…**

KENDO CLUB, Later that day

_Tap Tap Tap_

Murayama Ayako was on her way to their dojo with an old friend of hers who promised to watch practice. The other girl had raven hair much like hers. It was a little shorter than hers and this girl never wore pony-tails, and had strands much wavier than hers. The girl's hair followed her movements gracefully.

"Did you know, Aya?" She whispered as they strolled. "Apparently Saeki's childhood friend had moved here to Chiba and is now a freshman."

Just hearing that name placed a slight thump in her chest. It had been a while: she thought she got over him already. "I see…" was all she said.

The other girl narrowed her eyes, seemingly gauging her reaction. "I heard they looked kind of sweet together."

"Why wouldn't they? You just said they were childhood friends."

"I don't know… I thought that maybe she was Saeki's first love." She muttered. Ayako recalled she did tell her something like that… and the complications that it brought to her and Saeki's relationship.

Assuming they truly entered one.

"It's possible, though. She had very dark hair like yours, and an odd eye color."

"An odd eye color?"

"She has golden eyes. And they said she looks like an angel-"

"Buchou~!" two girls several meters away from them waved, effectively cutting her off. It was Hino and Sakimoto, already dressed up in their Kendo attire. Ayako let out a deep breath to calm herself and greeted them back. She said to her friend that she had to get ready, too, before anyone else got there.

Her friend looked at her anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"Of course I am, silly." She forced out a chuckle and slid the door open.

Several minutes later, the members started pouring in- most already dressed in their attire. Most of the boys were really staring at the three girls as they chatted about who-knows-what. They were tantalized- especially since Echizen usually didn't smile so much.

The captain entered and pointed at the space where the new members were to practice their swings and thrusts. She appointed another senior to guide them.

Ryoma watched the practice matches of her senpais, and skilfully tuned out the gapes targeted on her. It was interesting: Kendo. It was similar to tennis in the sense that it required certain swings and eye on where to target- a multitude of possibilities, attacks, and counters.

She was taken out of her daze when she caught Murayama staring at her inquisitively. The captain winced and went back to overseeing the matches. Murayama just shrugged and continued to do what she was doing...

...and was quick to shake away the want to ask her all the questions she wanted to ask about Saeki.

**...**

TENNIS COURTS

"Oiii, Kuma-kun~ Pass tha ball please!" He yelled to a fellow freshman, who did as he was told.

Aoi Kentaro had been made an exception already, much to his relief- not that he… feared that he was going to pick up balls again. Not really.

In any case, he was currently having a practice match with no other than Saeki Kojiro.

"Ne, Saeki. Is Echizen-chan good at tennis?"

"Yeah."

"How good?"

"_Very_ good. I can't tell you since you'd probably bug her to death. She can be quite cold sometimes."

"Are you two lovers, then?"

_BAM!_

"Of course not. Where the hell did you get that from?"

"I dunno." He shrugged before serving. "I just saw flowers when you two chatted yesterday."

Saeki winced. "F-Flowers?"

They heard a warm laugh from the sidelines. It was Satoshi, duh.

"They were just overtly sweet, Kentaro! Stop distracting poor Saeki with your embarrassing questions."

And with that, Saeki Kojiro turned to a tomato, getting Shudou's soft laugh to turn to cackles. Saeki's eyes twitched.

"URUSAI!"

* * *

...

* * *

Wednesday came, and it was mostly like Tuesday- minus the introductions. And the fact that Reina slept through most of the classes. Some teachers let her go, while a few forcibly woke her up to make her answer questions she easily answered- much to everyone's disbelief and Aoi's amusement.

A real life Mary-sue, this one was.

Lunch came, and Reina was invited by Aoi to eat with the tennis team but she refused- saying that the other girls in the Kendo club invited her, too. She looked at Nami and asked who she'll be eating lunch with and said that they'll have a lunch-time activity in the photography club.

"Then why not ask them to join us?"

"I'll try to ask them. I'm not sure if it would be alright with them… but I'll try."

"The more the merrier, right?"

"Right."

"And Nami can join us tomorrow if she wants to."

"Okay. I'll adjust my schedule just for you two." Nami smiled, and they went to their respective eating companions.

Ryoma soon met the girls plus another raven-haired girl she never met before under the Sakura tree near their Dojo. The new girl looked shocked when she saw her, and went to greet her first before anyone else.

"Uhm…"

"Kirara, you're being rude."

"Oh- I'm sorry." The girl paused. "I am Kirara Kikiyo, nice to meet you!"

"I was like that when I first saw you, too. It must be hard being so pretty." Sakimoto commented placing a sweat-drop on her head. Sakimoto remained clueless about the awkward situation, and Hino immediately gestured to stop her. But it proved to be a vain attempt for Sakimoto started asking Reina about what she had been hearing earlier that day. "Ne, I heard you were close with a few of the tennis club members!"

"Mou, Mizue-chan…" Hino sighed.

"What is it?"

"Have you forgotten?" she asked, eyeing the captain who was eating her sushi.

"Oh."

Murayama, feeling the tension smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine. Saeki and I are friends- there are no hard feelings."

Ryoma looked at her. Why would Saeki look so guilty when they talked about it, then? She wanted to know… but she was simply not in the position to ask. Especially when he already asked her out.

"So when I heard about it, I thought you won't show up."

Ryoma looked up in ponder. "They did invite me, though."

"D'aw… I'm touched you chose us...!" Sakimoto chuckled before letting her expression change. "So, do you know about Shudou Satoshi?"

"Of course I do. He's my cousin."

Sakimoto beamed and grabbed her hand, "Eh? Really?"

"Uh..."

Hino smiled. "Mizue-san had had a crush on him since they were freshmen."

"Kahoko!"

"Gomen nasai."

"Really?" Kirara, who was visibly surprised, asked. "What did you like about him?"

"He's so caring. It must be so troublesome to take care of such an old man- but he keeps doing it so diligently. He's an ideal man- a man of commitment."

"I see… it's rare to find those type."

"He's mine."

"O-Okay."

"Ne…" Ryoma seeing this was going nowhere, decided to intervene and cleared her throat to gain their attention. "Aoi offered that we should eat lunch together sometimes. I mean, if that's alri-"

"Sure we will!" Kirara and Sakimoto literally exclaimed, while Hino shook her head in disapproval and embarrassment.

"Senpais…" Hino whispered and they froze, immediately whipping their head towards Murayama's direction. She just nodded passively, but Ryoma could sense she was forcing it.

_How confusing…_

The others remained oblivious though, especially the over-zealous Sakimoto. "Yeiy~! It's arranged, then!"

Kirara seemed excited, too. And she clenched her fist in vehemence after swallowing her carrot.

"Tomorrow, we will eat with the tennis team!"

* * *

...

* * *

The next day's lunch came pretty quickly for Ryoma. That Thursday, the three girls walked to the tennis regular's hang-out place and she could feel the tension for so many different reasons.

"I wonder if Ayako was telling the truth…" Kirara guiltily whispered. Murayama said something about having to do emergency paper works for the council, and somehow Kirara thought about the possibility of her just avoiding Saeki.

"I thought they're in good terms, now?"

"Yeah. But she never really tells me much so I can't be so sure…"

"I don't think she'd want us to worry though." Ryoma intervened. Murayama was a great girl- she wouldn't want to be taken pity on. "You had been looking forward to this right, Sakimoto-san? Hanazano-san, too."

"You should really start calling me Mizue."

"And me, Kikiyo."

"You can… call me by my first n-name, too."

Reina smiled. "You don't have to force yourself, Hino-san."

"I-I'm not! Please call me Kahoko."

"Okay." And then out-of-nowhere, Mizue looked at Kikiyo.

"Why are _you_ looking forward to this lunch? Shudou-kun is _mine_."

"Hai, Hai." She shrugged. "Besides, all of the regulars there are popular. It would be like a harem."

They gaped at her.

"What?" she asked obliviously and the other girls shook their heads after looking at each other in incredulity. It didn't take long for a voice to call them, and cut their gapes.

"Echizen-chan~!" Aoi, being ever so noisy, waved his hand to her. They responded with shy smiles and walked to the direction of the picnicking tennis players.

Ryoma sat beside Saeki, before introducing the other girls. Mizue shyly sat beside Shudou's other side, and to her utter admiration Oji was on his other side. Kikyo sat by Ryoma, while Hino was shy as usual, and stuttered under everyone's stare but managed to introduce herself anyway.

They ate and admired each other's bentos. The most admirable one was Hino's.

"Sugoi, Kahoko, you made that right?"

"Hai.." shy about the attention her lunch box was getting. One boy though, one of orange hair, was especially close to her and her lunch box. He was well-known, so she knew him by name. _Amane-kun_, she mused, and he seemed to be pondering about something…

Then an imaginary light bulb appeared above his head and it made her flinch. "A lunch box to _munch_. Too bad it isn't mine. I could easily _take it in_.'"

_**BAM!**_

And Amane kissed the floor after getting kicked by Bane. Hino remained stiff as she absorbed the events, and Amane recovered and sat up again. It was then that they heard a feint giggle coming from no other than Hino Kahoko. Everyone gaped at her, and she stiffened once again.

"W-What is it?"

"You found that pun funny?"

"Is it not?" she asked innocently and before she knew it- another pair of hands grabbed hers. It was Amane's and his cheeks were crimson and his eyes were sparking for some reason...

"Marry m-"

_**BAM!**_

**…**

Soon, the conversation shifted to their respective club activities. No one dared ask about Murayama, but Saeki could see Ryoma was worried. He frowned and decided to change the topic once more.

"So… have you defeated Kentaro here as the number one student?"

"She's getting close even when she sleeps through the whole class."

The girls looked at her admiringly. "Sugoi, Reina."

She scratched her cheeks, oblivious as to why she was getting praised (she already studied them at home, since her mum has insane academic standards) and could only give a weak thanks. She looked down at her bento, but winced immediately. A dimsum was already flying (slowly) to her side. "I helped made this sushi. Try it out."

It was Aoi, grinning, and he was basically feeding her. Ryoma blinked and innocently opened her mouth to eat it when-

_CRACK_

**_FLAP_**

The food was on the floor. Wasted. Never to be eaten by human beings again.

Aoi puffed his cheeks at Saeki. "What was that for?"

Shudou grinned slyly. "Yeah. Stop wasting food, Kojiro."

He flushed and looked away, much to most of their amusement. "I… thought it was a fly."

"_Haaa?"_

He felt like an Idiot. That's the best excuse he could come up with?

And frankly, when he caught Ryoma staring at her in puzzlement, he could not have felt any more embarrassed in his entire life.

* * *

SHUDOU RESIDENCE, After Dinner

An hour after dinner, Saeki challenged Reina for a game. They were in her house that night, and they stood sternly at opposite sides of the tennis courts. Karupin was their only audience and he was purring the whole time.

It took her less than 20 minutes to defeat him, and it didn't help his ego at all.

"Sheez. You're unbelievable." He huffed and went closer to the net for the customary handshake.

"Mada Mada Dane." She smirked and shook his hand. But then she let go of her racket and stared at him.

"What is it?"

"Murayama-san."

"What about her?" he asked anxiously. "Murayama-san is a nice girl… we invited her to lunch, you know. I couldn't help but feel that we made her uncomfortable."

Saeki couldn't say anything for a while. He knew why she felt that way- but it was _his_ fault. Ryoma need not bother herself with his problems. And if this went on, he'd have less and less confidence to try and take their relationship to a new level.

"It's nothing." He said. "Don't bother yourself with trivial things, Reina. Just focus on adjusting."

"But you two are my friends, Kojiro. I don't think I'll adjust well if you're in trouble." She stated- as blunt as always. He only smiled and patted her cheeks.

"We'll manage this, okay…?" She held his hand in place, and Saeki knew what she wanted to say. "I'll tell you when I need help. Promise."

But instead of responding, she stared at him. "But you need it, _now_."

"No, I do not." He stated sternly, suddenly realizing that maybe he did- not that he'd admit it. _Darn_. Why did she always have to do things like this to him?

Ryoma gaped, sensing that last thought. She backed away and coolly headed back to the house, perhaps to give him some space. He opened his mouth to call her, but he seemed to have lost his voice.

How was he supposed to tell her what happened?

She would hate him.

And he'd rather jump off a cliff that let that happen.

* * *

...

* * *

That night flew by, and soon it was finally Friday. And everyone decided to have lunch together with the others as a celebration for a nice weekend ahead. It was surprising- everyone was really there! Even Nami and Murayama.

Some inconspicuously watched the old couple but found that they were surprisingly acting like normal acquaintances. They didn't know if it was an act, but they were relieved there was barely any tension within the group and all of them were having a blast.

Hino Kahoko was certainly laughing a lot from speaking with Amane and receiving his supposedly ingenious puns. Shudou was actually having a nice, good, chat with Mizue. Kirara was story-telling with Nami adding bits and pieces making it all the more dynamic. Ryoma was generally watching everyone with ease.

School life was such a nice experience, after all, she mused and she was smiling beautifully the whole time.

Then she batted an eyelid when someone grabbed her shoulders and brought her closer to him.

"Smile!" Aoi said making a piece sign. Nami was taking pictures. Aoi placed his hand on her hip to tickle her and she laughed.

_Click!_

"Perfect." Nami smirked looking at the reproduction on her camera. Kirara clapped and asked her seatmates, Bane and Ryou, to take a cute picture with her too. They agreed and they posed quite amusingly in the process.

Reina and Aoi, on the other hand, were chatting with Aoi's hand still on her hip. Ryoma was semi-glaring at him. "That was very annoying."

Aoi grinned. "Doesn't matter. We took a nice phot-"

He was cut off when a large palm covered his face and forced him to part with Ryoma. When the palm was taken off, Saeki was already between them.

"Oi, Saeki-"

"Nani? I like Rinko-baasan's cooking." He said looking at Reina's bento, taking a bite with _her_ chopstick. He munched and Ryoma took her chopsticks away from him.

"That's my favourite, Koji!"

"I know."

She glared at him and he winced- making most of them laugh in amusement.

Most of them.

But no one noticed.

And so, later that day, after club activities with the sun nearing its set… Murayama Ayako stared blankly at a random corridor's window. She felt bitter- and she rarely felt that way. She looked sardonically at herself at her almost invisible reflection on the clear glass.

She sighed to compose herself and, as if on cue, her phone vibrated. She looked at it, half-hoping it was the text message she was hoping to receive.

She stiffened. It really was, and she let out another deep breath to muster all the composure she used to have.

She looked at the message once more.

_Alright. I'm coming. _

**…**

Ryoma was strolling to the club room as her hands rested nonchalantly on her pockets. She sort of left her wooden sword back at the dojo so she had to go and get it. It was peaceful for a while since there were barely any people left.

It was the reason why she flinched immediately, when she heard voices from a far. She frowned when she heard them slowly turn vehement- almost full of anxiety and anger.

"So you asked me to go there so that I could witness _first-hand_ how much you _like_ her?!" It was Murayama- she could tell. And she was shocked at the amount of emotion in the usually cool voice she had.

"I didn't- I didn't mean for that to happen! I just want us to be comfortable with each other again- to be _friends_."

"How do you think that's possible when you _used_ me?"

Ryoma's heart stopped.

"I know what I did, and I thought you understood how sorry I was. Why come to see us then if you hadn't…?"

"Because my precious friends wanted to- I don't want them to worry about me and my pitiful emotions toward you." She snapped. "I could tell Reina's worried about me, too, you told her we used to date didn't you?"

"It's hard to lie to her."

"Obviously." She said. "Seeing how easy it was for _you_ to lie to _me._"

_Silence_

"Look. I'm sorry for what I did." Saeki said as sternly as he could. "But please don't make yourself miserable because of what I did!"

He breathed deeply. "We both know I'm not worth it."

"Kojiro…"

"Okay…?"

But the edgy atmosphere only intensified. It was of Murayama's stubbornness. She was not going to soften up for _him _again. She had her pride.

She turned away. "I don't have anything to say to you. Don't worry-" she added, not wanting him to intervene with her or to say anything else. Anything more and her weakening foundation would break again. "I like her, I won't do anything that would bother her."

And so she walked away. To the befuddled Echizen Ryoma's direction.

Murayama's eyes widened as her eyes met hers. "E-Echizen?" The older girl squeaked and wiped the slowly escaping tears off her cheek. "I-"

"I have to go."

"B-Buchou!" she called, but Murayama didn't even bother turning away. She was about to run after her when she felt a hand grip hers.

"She'll want to be alone." Saeki whispered and looked at her. _How much did she hear?_

"K-Kojiro. What did she mean?" she squeaked. "How could you _use_ her? And for what?"

He didn't speak. Hearing that much? Ryoma already knew.

So all he could do- or rather, had the strength to do was look at her pleadingly. "Don't hate me."

She too, did not speak. And it was utterly torturous for him.

"Tell me everything." She said. She did not want to believe in her own conclusions.

And Saeki was never good with words, not with her and not in situations like this. And with the panic he was feeling- he had no choice but to get to the point. "I dated her before because I... felt lonely."

"What?"

Saeki stared. She should already have a gut instinct of how he felt about her. So if he told her Murayama reminded him of _someone_...

"_Kojiro_" she repeated out, looking at him with a mix of emotions. He held her hand tighter, but she willed herself away from it. _How could he use a person?_

"It doesn't matter. It was just me being an idiot." He was. The only thing Murayama reminded him of Ryoma was her hair, and the fact that she had an unusual eye color. That was it.

That was how desperate he was.

Should he let Reina know? Of course not- she would not only hate _him_. She would hate herself.

"Don't hate me." And to think he just confessed to her a few days ago. God, Saeki saw himself as the biggest jerk in the world.

"I don't hate you." She said immediately, planting a miniscule hope in his gut. But that was quickly wiped away.

"It's just so disappointing.

"I thought I knew you...

"I was wrong."

But there was a part of her that was thinking if her _other_ friend was as she thought he was, too.

And it worried her so.

.  
.

**END OF CHAPTER 4**

_**Coming Soon:  
**_**CHAPTER 5: Arrival**

Fuji's arrival to see his old friends. What could happen?

* * *

**REPLIES TO ANGELS**

**MintLeafeon-** haha. Yeah, we probably had hang-overs without drinking any alcohol. Lolz. Thanks for the comment~ XD**  
**

**ChordOverstreetfan- h**aha. That's nice of you to keep your guesses. XD I don't mean that you can't though. Feel free to type in whatever you want~ And thanks for the comment!**  
**

**lunarmidnightwolf- **I'm glad you thought it was cute! XD Thank you for the review~!**  
**

**mai-chan265-** Lol. Thank you for the review! I'll take a look when I read through the story. ;) And yes, Saeki was fast huh? What? We were drunk. lololol**  
**

**Poohxnyah- **Yay! Glad you liked the pair~ I delayed the thrill pair moments though, sorry. T_T And I do have fun writing, especially when I read (and reread) feedback from you guys~! Thanks for the review! XD**  
**

**Bao-** Thanks for the review~ I'm interested in the fact you liked this one most among my stories. I think you're the 1st one. haha.**  
**

**HiBirdSong-** Yes, I apologize for the insane update rate...! I can only pray this could still be counted as 'worth the wait'. Haha. And thanks for the comment!

**DragonFire Princess-** Thank you for the review! Sorry this took so long! Hope you liked it but, of course, you may tell me if it was worth the wait. ajajaja**  
**

**jury28- **Oh my! You're here! xD It's nice you're still reading two of my stories. xD Thanks for the comment~! ;D

**AnimexMangaAddict- **Nyaheheh. 'She has Fuji and Saeki in a leash' is one way to put it. lololol. Thanks for the comment! xD

* * *

**...**

* * *

Thanks for reading!

It would be so awesome if you were to pause for a lil' while longer and  
let me know your thoughts! haha


End file.
